Dimon warns Burnham over bank taxes, threatens London HQ
JP Morgan chief Jamie Dimon has warned new Prime Minister Andy Burnham that raising taxes on banks could trigger capital flight from Britain, putting a planned £3bn London headquarters at risk.
Jamie Dimon has warned Andy Burnham against raising tax charges on banks, suggesting such a move could threaten the construction of a planned £3bn headquarters in London. The JP Morgan chief executive said he did not know what he would do about the Canary Wharf tower if the new prime minister targeted the banking industry for extra revenue.
The warning highlights an immediate pressure point for Britain's new government as it balances union demands for higher wealth taxes against the need to retain global finance. Trade unions have urged Burnham to reverse a previous Conservative cut to the bank surcharge, with the Trades Union Congress claiming it could raise £9bn over four years.
Banks in the UK currently pay a 28% corporation tax rate, compared to the standard 25%, alongside a separate levy on their balance sheets. Dimon has long criticised this surcharge, arguing it penalises firms that acted responsibly. "I mean, it may sound great, ‘tax the banks’, but it’s $5bn that my shareholders paid on that extra tax," he said on the Master Investor Podcast. "I just think things like that have adverse consequences."
For European markets, the standoff is a test of London's ability to retain its status as a financial hub against continental rivals. Dimon explicitly linked uncompetitive taxation to capital migrating across borders. "If you have an uncompetitive tax system, capital leaves your country. And if capital leaves your country, it goes to other countries," he said, pointing to the recent wave of company delistings from London. "I wouldn’t want to see that if I was running a country."
The 279,000 sq metre tower was approved last year just hours after former chancellor Rachel Reeves spared the banking sector from increased taxes in her autumn budget. Dimon had previously stated he could scrap the project, set to house over half of JP Morgan's 23,000 UK workforce, if Keir Starmer were replaced by a Labour prime minister hostile to banks.
Faced with that exact scenario under Burnham, Dimon described the tower's future as a "binary decision". He defended his firm's local presence, saying JP Morgan was a "great citizen" that wanted to be bigger in the UK. However, he stressed the broader need for a stable regime, arguing the UK "should have a competitive tax system that is consistent and conducive to capital formation that will drive the growth of a country."
